The way Rendell sees it, Clinton's been the winner in the last half-dozen primaries (including last week's squeaker in Indiana) and is on track to chart a huge win over Barack Obama in her wheelhouse of West Virginia tomorrow.

"The fact that she keeps winning and winning is an important statement," Rendell said. "If the superdelegates take a deep breath, they'd come to the conclusion that she's the strongest candidate in the fall."Rendell then trotted out by-now familiar arguments that Clinton would pull even in the popular vote count if the results in the Florida primary were counted, and if voters in scorned Michigan were given a chance to cast their ballots again.

Readers may recall that the two states were stripped of their delegates after they moved their primaries in violation of Democratic Party rules. For the record, Rendell blames Republicans in Florida for the Sunshine State imbroglio. Democrats there were "innocent victims" of the GOP's decision to move up the primary.

"The Republicans knowingly broke [Democratic] party rules," he said, with what we assumed to have been a straight face. "

Asked whether he thought Clinton's long-term viability as a candidate had been harmed by her precarious financial position, Rendell deflected, arguing that it actually reinforced her viability because she had stayed competitive despite being outspent by the deep-pocketed Obama.

"Thanks for bringing that up," Rendell told a reporter (OK, full disclosure: he told THIS reporter).

When he was asked whether he had a hard time keeping track of the Clinton campaign's constant moving of the goal posts, Rendell conceded, "A little bit -- especially because of Florida and Michigan."

Rendell's survey course in the Democratic primary landscape continued with his utterly shocking acknowledgment (not) that Republican John McCain would be a tough challenger come fall.

And for what may well be the 1,500th time in the last month, Rendell rejected suggestions that he's angling for the Democratic nomination for vice president or a spot in some future Democratic White House.

"I think I'm on the pundits' list, but not the candidates' lists," he said, obliquely referencing conservative commentator Fred Barnes' suggestion last week that he might make an ideal second banana for Obama.